Author: Seth Barnes

Living in a tent city

Written by Seth Barnes on October 3, 2010. Posted in Haiti. 5 Comments on Living in a tent city

Millions in Haiti remain displaced by the Jan. 12 earthquake, and little is being done by the government to help them. Small organizations are spending their money well in rubble...

Report on Haiti microfinance loans

Written by Seth Barnes on October 2, 2010. Posted in Haiti. 1 Comment on Report on Haiti microfinance loans

My son is in Haiti today and my thoughts drift there with him. When I was in Haiti last May, I saw that one long-term answer for Haitians to be able to provide for themselves was...

10 Decisions before going to a counselor

Written by Seth Barnes on September 30, 2010. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. 10 Comments on 10 Decisions before going to a counselor

Life is complex and often we may need help navigating it. A spiritual coach can be a big help. And at times we may need a professional counselor as well. But in order to grow, we...

It takes pain to produce greatness

Written by Seth Barnes on September 29, 2010. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 7 Comments on It takes pain to produce greatness

Does God trust you? Do you handle his flawed servants with grace or are you judgmental? Are you trustworthy? Unless you’ve experienced great pain, I honestly don’t know...

More pastors should follow Francis Chan’s example

Written by Seth Barnes on September 28, 2010. Posted in Church. 29 Comments on More pastors should follow Francis Chan’s example

Francis Chan reads the Bible and tries to do what it says. He listens to the Spirit and tries to do what Jesus did – only what he saw the Father doing. Chan’s church...

We need a bias toward action

Written by Seth Barnes on September 27, 2010. Posted in Radical Living. 10 Comments on We need a bias toward action

Gabe Landes was one of about 20 people (many of them from this blog community) who met this summer to pray through how we live out a Luke 10 ethic in our culture. One result of...

The World Race on national TV

Written by Seth Barnes on September 25, 2010. Posted in World Race. 13 Comments on The World Race on national TV

At the outset, I felt like God said, “Structure the World Race to become a movement.” So, we’ve consistently sought to empower 20-somethings to own it and grow...

Praying for a dead woman will change you

Written by Seth Barnes on September 24, 2010. Posted in Radical Living. 2 Comments on Praying for a dead woman will change you

Marlena Griffey is a World Racer who just arrived in the Philippines and writes about praying for a dead lady to be raised in her first week on the field. Yesterday, a Filipino...

The Bible is more than a (Romanian) storybook

Written by Seth Barnes on September 24, 2010. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 7 Comments on The Bible is more than a (Romanian) storybook

Mike Shuerman posted this wonderful story from Jesse Walsh, a teammate on the World Race. It will make your day. Abi (my Romanian host), Emily, & I were out for an afternoon...

587 out of every 1000 babies in Swaziland die

Written by Seth Barnes on September 23, 2010. Posted in Justice issues. 10 Comments on 587 out of every 1000 babies in Swaziland die

This isn’t a blog so much as it is me registering shock. As humans, we must sit up and take notice when large numbers of other human beings are dying. We did it with Cambodia,...

Skype & FB’s negative impact on missions

Written by Seth Barnes on September 22, 2010. Posted in Short-term missions. 23 Comments on Skype & FB’s negative impact on missions

A missionary friend who works in Asia wrote a post highlighting a phenomenon concerning Skype and Facebook I’ve observed with a lot of our short-termers. Granted, they’re...

Surfing the tension between rest & ministry

Written by Seth Barnes on September 21, 2010. Posted in Lordship. 15 Comments on Surfing the tension between rest & ministry

Karen and I just returned from a long trip away from home. We lived in hotels, out of suitcases, with little private space. It was a great trip in so many ways, but I felt like my...

Chris Telfer finds his voice

Written by Seth Barnes on September 20, 2010. Posted in 42nd Generation. 9 Comments on Chris Telfer finds his voice

How many of us go through life with dreams unrealized? Maybe we’re a poet with poems unwritten, maybe we’re a singer with songs unsung. It’s not a good way to live....

In a strange place with no ticket home

Written by Seth Barnes on September 19, 2010. Posted in Journeys. 4 Comments on In a strange place with no ticket home

Joshua Maisner, a World Racer, had this crazy experience and I love it. The moral of his story gives us a drum we need to beat – young people can change the world as they abandon...

Helping one person at a time is inefficient

Written by Seth Barnes on September 18, 2010. Posted in Poverty. 10 Comments on Helping one person at a time is inefficient

Ashley Higgins went on the World Race and is currently apprenticing with the marketing team. She was in Dublin and wrote this blog post about an experience there. We had an afternoon...

Looking for a safe place

Written by Seth Barnes on September 16, 2010. Posted in A broken world. 4 Comments on Looking for a safe place

Summerwood Circle in Wellington, FL, is kind of a sacred place for our family. Along with Gainesville, it’s where we raised our kids. So many memories flow from that neighborhood....

Some important decisions we’ve made

Written by Seth Barnes on September 15, 2010. Posted in Mobilization. 21 Comments on Some important decisions we’ve made

Karen and I just landed in the U.S. after three beautiful weeks away. We got to think about ultimate issues and to rest. Our tanks are full. The kids and dogs held down the fort...

Privileged living and Uganda flashbacks

Written by Seth Barnes on September 14, 2010. Posted in Poverty. 4 Comments on Privileged living and Uganda flashbacks

Karen and I have been on vacation for the last two weeks. We’ve been celebrating 30 years of married life. We’re fortunate to have this respite and thankful to those...

How to talk to Muslims about faith

Written by Seth Barnes on September 13, 2010. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 14 Comments on How to talk to Muslims about faith

Words can get in the way of communicating. When talking to those who disagree with us, we need to focus on meaning, not words. Here’s a story Carl Medearis tells that illustrates...

Carl sifts through the rubble of life

Written by Seth Barnes on September 11, 2010. Posted in Haiti. 3 Comments on Carl sifts through the rubble of life

After the earthquake, people were trapped under buildings all around. One boy had his foot wedged under a wall. Carl tugged and tugged to get him loose before the aftershocks toppled...

More information is not enough to change you

Written by Seth Barnes on September 10, 2010. Posted in Culture and Faith. 5 Comments on More information is not enough to change you

From an article in The Boston Globe. Although it targets the issue of political opinions, It also challenges our information-based concepts of discipleship. If you want to help...

We have to learn the rules to walk in freedom

Written by Seth Barnes on September 9, 2010. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 2 Comments on We have to learn the rules to walk in freedom

We have to learn the rules to walk in freedom. I first learned this from Richard Rohr (and he got it from the apostle Paul*). Rohr talks about two stages of life. In the first...

World Racers: Where are they now?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 8, 2010. Posted in World Race. 10 Comments on World Racers: Where are they now?

One of the most common objections to the World Race is: “Does it do any long-term good?” People want to know what happens after an amazing year of adventures around the...

You’re living in Ziklag

Written by Seth Barnes on September 7, 2010. Posted in Courage. 8 Comments on You’re living in Ziklag

Ziklag is a place of terror in the Old Testament. It’s a place where your worst fears come true. A place of nightmares. David and his men thought their families would be safe...